Why UN peacekeeping operations must not become counter-terrorism missions

7 September 2018 Larry Attree and Jordan Street

United Nations peacekeepers face many tough choices that come with operating in complex and dangerous environments. Recently, growing UN fatalities and injuries have led to increased pressure to embolden peacekeeping operations and political missions with stronger, more aggressive mandates. But recent decisions made by the permanent members of the UN Security Council – such as increasing support to a regional non-UN counter-terror force in Mali – risk bogging down blue helmets in unwinnable wars and destroying their claim to impartiality in the process. This short-term thinking could change UN peacekeeping as we know it.